Senator Barack Obama is a young, sharp and eloquent African American with a Kenyan father and a humble upbringing. Despite such a background, he has launched an inspirational campaign that has illuminated the USA politics for the Democratic Party presidential nomination en route to White House in a field including Hillary Clinton who is well supported by his husband, Bill. His message has reverberated and inspired the whole world. It is in this context that the Zimbabwean opposition can also learn from his extraordinary message that clearly finds resonance in Zimbabwe today.

"We are not a collection of red states and blue states; we are the United States of America. We have shown here in Iowa that at a defining moment in history, Americans who love their country can come together whether they are Democrats, Independents and even Republicans to serve the American dream that is in peril"

This message is significant to the opposition in Zimbabwe in many ways. Firstly, it demonstrates that when the survival of a nation is at risk, opposition forces mustovercome all sorts of petty divisions based on ideology, race, tribe and personalities to espouse an unstoppable united coalition that must be inspired by the patriotic need of saving the country from collapse for inter and intra generational posterity. Hence, the reality of Zimbabwe today where the poor people are suffering under the weight of Mugabe's misguided policies need a collective response from all Zimbabweans. Thus the challenge confronting Zimbabwe opposition is not who will be the leader but saving the country from Mugabe. To this end Tsvangirai, Mutambara, Makoni, Madhuku and Ncube must put Zimbabwean interests ahead of personal ambitions and urgently craft a formula that will deliver victory to the people of Zimbabwe.

Secondly, Obama's message shows the importance of each and every vote. Recently, the opposition has been complaining that the Delimitation Report was gerrymandered by giving more rural constituencies as opposed to urban constituences.This is clearly beside the point. For if the ultimate prize of election 2008 is about evicting Mugabe whose squatting at state house is now long overdue, every vote whether rural or urban will count. It will not make any sense even if the opposition wins majority constituencies and fail to win the presidency for an assault on Mugabe is the magic formula to resuscitate the Zimbabwean dream. Thus instead of wasting time engaging in trivialities, the opposition must launch an all encompassing campaign blitz and beat Mugabe by defeating him not only in urban areas but also in rural areas like Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe.

Obama's message has also been underpinned by what he calls , "the audacity of hope" He makes it clear that if he had no hope, given his background, a middle name , "Hussein" and a surname that rhymes like "Osama" in America, he would have never been in the campaign. In as much as Zimbabweans are tired today of the liability that Mugabe has become, they have clearly lost hope.Thats why with all hardships including the daily power cuts, shortage of food, water, cash and employment, the people have failed to confront Mugabe on the streets. The Zimbabwean people are now helpless and hapless. It thus behoves on the opposition to craft strategy to give hope to the people and assure them that if they can vote in their millions, Mugabe can and will be defeated. Indecisive talk of election boycotts or spreading the gospel that elections have already been rigged will worsen the hopelessness of opposition supporters who will simply not vote. If Mugabe wins the election in 2008, it will not be because he is popular, but it will be because the opposition leadership will have failed to inspire their economically battered and disillusioned supporters that victory is not only possible but certain. Even during the liberation struggle when ZANLA and ZIPRA forces were pitted against Smith's well oiled Rhodesian Front forces, patriots like Tongogara emphasized to his troops that victory was certain and this gave the guerillas the strength to proceed despite the hardness of the front.

Obama also speaks about the, "fierce" urgency of "now" This is not being power hungry but a realization that if the people of America do not seize this moment to fundamentally change the confrontational politics of Washington worsened by Bush, America is headed for colossal damage and destruction. Thus the opposition must get to the trenches by taking the campaign to each and every village and street in Zimbabwe. The consequences of giving Mugabe another term in office are too ghastly to even contemplate. Opposition must cross the Rubicon and draw a line in the sand and lead the people in saying enough is enough to Mugabe by voting him out of power in 2008

Whatever the outcome of Obama's campaign, it's crystal clear that the Zimbabwe opposition can learn from his message and strategies .When the stakes are too high like in Zimbabwe, all democratic forces of goodwill must rise up and be counted for the sake of the unborn Zimbabwean generations.

Garikai Chimuka (garychimuka06@yahoo.com) is an analyst based at Wageningen University, the Netherlands

Simba Makoni is being touted in and outside Zimbabwe as a possible challenger to Mugabe in the forthcoming presidential elections in which he will be the flag bearer of a hitherto-be formed political party.

It is claimed that so exciting is this Project Makoni that the BBC being officially banned from Zimbabwe, had to border-jump into the country at great risk for their Chief Correspondent John Simpson simply to cover the developing news. The problem with the west at times is that they think they know and understand our politics much better than we do. Already they think that Makoni has all the answers to our problems and that he will definitely win the elections. The truth could never be further!

The formation of another political party is always a welcome development because if such party is effective enough to make its mark policy and strategy wise, then the whole democratic process becomes enriched. The problem with people like Makoni however, is that while he is a man of colourful personal credentials i.e. his academic qualifications et al, his achievements in office are very far from inspiring. Makoni has a dismal record in office and he will not perform any miracles as president. His is a record blemished with underachievement in all the ministries he has headed as well as that unforgivable conspiracy to the ruinous ZANU PF project. His head is sunken right deep into the stench of ZANU PF misrule and he has never really raised it above that shameful parapet.

The problem with us Zimbabweans is not our forgiving nature but rather our forgetfulness. How can anyone forget that these Makonis, Dabengwas and Mujurus are simply as ZANU PF as the rest of them? We have all heard enough about Makoni’s so called Midas touch and how he will present the real challenge to Robert Mugabe. But what people need to know now and to put into perspective is the history of Makoni and his cheerleaders in ZANU PF and their conspiracy to this entirely ruinous project. That Makoni was a total failure at SADC where he spent 10 years is out the question because he was only saved by his affiliation to ZANU PF and a Mugabe who was then very influential in the region. Of course that is not the problem with his supposed re-entry into politics at the highest level.

The real problem with Makoni and his grouped of disgraced spent forces being touted as our potential saviours is that the whole thing smirks of national desperation of a an unforgivable nature and that is an insult to the souls of the people who have died at the hands of ZANU PF brutality. I will promptly point out that there is nothing wrong with the MDC courting ordinary Zimbabweans who currently belong to ZANU PF. It is universally agreed fact that political parties do not necessarily have to manufacture ‘new’ supporters where these may potentially be tainted, but that they have to appeal to the same people who support their opposite number to come to their fold. On the same token ZANU PF supporters are no different and they should be lured to the MDC stable where they must be shown the light.

There is every problem however, with the idea of luring senior members of ZANU PF who have been sitting in Politburo meetings where for all this time decisions to decimate MDC leaders have been orchestrated. How can the same people then cross the line and become to the torch bearers of the struggle against the same ZANU PF tyranny. God will really need to bless the people of our strife torn country if that is just how desperate we are for saviours. Other people have even gotten carried away to the extent of suggesting that Morgan Tsvangirai should step aside for Makoni to lead the so-called broad alliance of democratic forces! Tsvangirai has been at the frontline in the this fight against the same ZANU PF beast and he has been left for dead at the hands of ZANU PF thugs dressed in police uniform. How on earth can anyone in their sane senses think that someone from ZANU PF can then come to take over the people’s revolution? If the MDC wants to be rejected by the people who have stood by them for all these years, then the party must enter into any form of adulterous relationship with Makoni and his ilk. Enough concessions have been given to ZANU PF so far and all that is now left is to square up with them.

The Makoni project may well be oiled and greased with the money that has been fleeced out of the Zimbabwean people the majority of whom are going for days on end without seeing a meal, not to mention a decent one. This is money that has been stolen from the people, and it is now being used to sustain the power of the selfish few who have been milking our nation dry for all these years. How many scandals have erupted under the noses of ZANU PF and have gone unchallenged leaving certain people filthy rich? And why should the people of Zimbabwe allow these dogs of war to use the proceeds of their evil exploits to prop up themselves? This is not a fight against Mugabe’s tyranny that Makoni is fronting. He is simply seeking to facilitate the survival of a mafia that cannot imagine itself living an ordinary life.

The truth of the matter is that all of those names being put forward to front the Makoni project are political prostitutes and spent forces. This is all dead wood that has been used and dumped by ZANU PF. They are all political dandies that have been chewed out of their essential sugars and are no longer of any use even to a dying party. None of these people ever resigned in courage and dignity as a way of protesting against the madness that is ZANU PF. These are people who were either sacked by Mugabe or were simply dropped from the government merry-go-round because they had outlived their usefulness to ZANU PF. What use to our nation could be these ZANU PF stumps that have nothing left in them at all that they could offer to our nation so desperate for real leaders to take us out of this ZANU PF prescribed mess?

Makoni, Dabengwa, Mujuru, and their lot are simply selfish people who have just discovered that the ZANU PF project is finished and they now want to cut and run in the name of presenting the ‘real’ challenge to Mugabe. As for Makoni he is actually rubbing his hands because he thinks that this time around he is in for a kill that has eluded him for years. How can ZANU PF masterminds present a ‘real challenge’ to themselves? Where were they all this time when the country was burning? As for Dabengwa he is one of the unprincipled individuals who have let the people of Matabeleland down for years while being used by Mugabe for his own selfish ends. Dabengwa was used by Mugabe just like all the other cherry-picked yes people like John Nkomo who present the face of Bulawayo in ZANU PF. It was actually people like him (Dabengwa), who presented Mugabe with the priceless mask behind which he has been hiding away from the people of Matabeleland for all these years.

As for Mujuru who is said to be the financier and anchor of the new political project well, he is none other than the husband of Joyce Mujuru who during her years in the higher echelons of ZANU PF has spitted nothing but venom in the direction of the MDC. What is it really that separates the two who every night share the same bed and recap on their daily routines while brainstorming about the morrow in each other’s arms? The truth of the matter is that Makoni will simply serve as a political carpet under which all the ZANU PF rot will be swept should he ever be allowed any authoritative space in which to operate. That should never be allowed because there is just too much graft associated with this ZANU PF establishment that allowing any of their lot a lifeline into the next political dispensation in Zimbabwe would be an affront to justice. Why give ZANU PF a kiss of life by entertaining Makoni and his bandwagon?

What Zimbabwe needs really is the coming together of the democratic forces into a rainbow coalition or alliance to oust ZANU PF and not to supp with it. This should never be mistaken with being led down the footpath by ZANU PF accomplices. There are no democratic forces among the current crop of ZANU PF leadership and Makoni is right there in their midst. Makoni has already stated anyway that he and his colleagues are very keen to carry on with the ZANU PF ideology without re-writing it. We all know what ZANU PF ideology is all about. It is all about killing political opponents, torturing opposition leaders, starving opposition supporters, as well burning the homes of innocent villages that are already feeling the strain of unjustified poverty and suffering.

This is not the time for making regrettable mistakes. The MDC must present itself to the people of Zimbabwe in its original format without tainting the party by mixing it with disgraced and expired ZANU PF politicians. Tsvangirai must lead a united MDC to victory and should the people of reject the MDC then let them reject the party in its pure format. The only unity should be of the MDC and all the other smaller parties that have never been part of the ZANU PF rot. If at all he has the spine for it, Makoni must be used to destabilise ZANU PF and the MDC would need to make maximum capital out of a disjointed ZANU PF by seriously presenting a real and credible alternative. ZANU PF is a no no and any sort of pact with the devil will consume the MDC project into oblivion.

At the present moment Tsvangirai is and has been for the last eight years, the real challenge to Mugabe and ZANU PF and this is why he their enemy number one. Tsvangirai has stood up to ZANU PF in such a way that the ZANU PF Politburo has had to hold several emergency meetings to plot against him and his party. Makoni, Mujuru and Dabengwa have always sat in those politburo meetings and there was not a single occasion on which any one of them ever stormed out of the meeting in protest against MDC persecution. The only incident recorded in a politburo meeting so far was when Mujuru hit the roof over when it became clear that his wife had been dumped by Mugabe and was no longer the natural successor to the octogenarian. There is nothing that can be called progressive forces among the ZANU PF leadership but what is definitely out there to be reached to are a large pool of supporters that still worship ZANU PF especially in the rural areas. Whether they do so under duress or willingly those are the people that Tsvangirai will need to enter a pact with not these desperados.

As long as the MDC appeals to those masses in the rural areas Makoni and his ilk can dream on and there is no need to panic at all. This is the time for the MDC to expose them for what they really are – desperados. If allowed to get anywhere near the presidency Makoni is not going to serve the interests of the suffering people of Zimbabwe in any way or form. The only purpose he will serve would be to protect the ZANU PF thieves from imminent prosecution for human rights abuses as well as plundering of national resources. Can anyone imagine people like Gono just getting away with what he has done to our country? It is obvious that there will be a lot of money for the Makoni project from ZANU PF cash barons and they should be already lining up to sponsor Makoni’s presidential bid because he is their only sure way out of prosecution.

The Makoni project must be rejected and condemned with the contempt it deserves because it is not about the advancement of the national agenda. It is still simply a huge carpet under which all the ZANU PF chuff will be swept away from justice because it’s all about the survival of a few individuals who have strangled our nation for years. The MDC with all its shortcomings is the only genuine way out for Zimbabweans. It is the only political project that will offer Zimbabweans that kind of clean slate that we desperate. We must never employ and half measures in the resolution of our dire problems. This is the time to continue the struggle against tyranny with the dignity and conscience that has always prevailed in the face of a murderous ZANU PF hegemony.

The MDC must rally the people throughout Zimbabwe with a clear message of rejecting the repackaging of ZANU PF. Through those three hundred rallies that have been lined up, the MDC leadership will indeed reach to the people of Zimbabwe. The message would be conveyed and the podiums must be lit up with messages of warning to the people about the hawks and sharks that are preying on our desperation for salvation. The MDC must never waver or bend backwards to accommodate unscrupulous politicians. Zimbabweans have suffered enough!

Silence Chihuri writes from Scotland and can be reached at silencechihuri@googlemail.com

The events surrounding the much-emphasized issue of cash barons, the equivalents of saboteurs are squarely positioned to divert attention from the owners of the economic chaos as mere victims of internal saboteurs. Which frames very well with the oversold sanctions myth?

The arrests and subsequent dramatic unveiling of the cash barons and their purported boxes of cash in the front the government owned daily, the Herald is a well-calculated, sinister plan designed to mentally cripple us as recipient of such toxic information.

The 'toxic' articles are meant to divert us from the real issues which must be interrogated, issues of a highly informalised economy which is massively anti-financial inclusion, a typical situation reflective of a collapsed economy. Like most informal businesspersons they do not want scrutiny therefore they carry most transactions outside the bank.

Imagine if the USA, with all its military strength was to pursue all its currency littered around the world, it would inevitably arrest millions of global citizens including nations. Let alone if South Africa were to hunt down its Rands most Zimbabweans would have been nabbed for concealing them under their pillows.

This clearly locates the irrelevance of the so called cash barons in mothering the painful cash shortages, as I have emphasized before that there is no causal relationship between cash barons and the cash shortage, the cash barons are just results of a heavily mismanaged and highly informalised economy.

The cash barons are a striking coincidence resultant and symptomatic of the economic collapse. To make it a national priority to pursue the so called cash barons as one of the strategies meant to arrest the deteriorating situation is the equivalents of burning huge forests in order to pursue a problem rat.

To what extent do the propaganda and the dramatic arrests; including more arrests to come contribute to the violation of the Zimbabwe brand? The treatment offered to local entrepreneurs, with the latest case of Hon Butau in mind is a national brand marketing disaster, which further taints our image as an unsecured and overregulated economy.

This unavoidably leaves domestic and foreign investors of all origins including the dear Chinese frightened as to their safety. The implications will be worse if Hon Butau is subsequently specified.

Zimbabwe provides a critical specimen of nations that have endured a harsh legacy because of the deficiency in the sanctity of security in the economic arena. The neo-populist laws of indeginisation, land reform (legal and illegal seizures of farms), to name a few, have all combined to compromise the Zimbabwe brand.

The location of all policies within a campaign strategy has heavily influenced the postcolonial state's framing of policies. As a heavily recycled and out of touch leadership with no solutions to offer, the government including through its RBZ has located their 2008 survival manifesto in presenting themselves as victims of local and external saboteurs.

This effectively frames well in their propaganda matrix, which also presents the government as a victim of a strategic response from Britain, EU, USA and Australia meant as punishment for engaging on the Fast Track Land Reform programme.

Dr Gono did effectively provided the recipe for the strategy when he threatened to name the barons if he appears before the relevant parliamentary portfolio committee. This locates the role of Gono as the conveyer belt of the propaganda who clearly was aware or played a central part in the formulation of this strategy.

Did Gono unveil this statement designed to launch the propaganda crusade without the approval of his principals? There was tacit approval of Gono's witch hunting strategy to the extent that it lacked the sense it was predicated to inform.

How can Gono have the ironic propensity to appear at journalists and purport to hold strategic information about economic crimes instead of sharing the information with law enforcement agencies, who in a democratic value driven society are supposed to investigate and verify in order to prosecute any violators.

Gono was clearly attempting to trigger citizenry sympathy and empathy, of him and his principals who have arguably failed to arrest the economic decadence, as victims of the so-called cash barons whilst also tacitly playing the double role of perpetrators.

Gono and his RBZ are well known drivers of inflation through his dubious quasi-fiscal programmes that have never delivered value to the ordinary citizens who have been made to endure painful economic suffrage.

The government destroyed the formal economy in a vigorous campaign from the time its legitimacy came under scrutiny from the people. Of late the operation dzikisai mutengo/ lower prices was clearly a strategy informed by the fact that the lack of control of the economy by government emanated from an unholy alliance between the businesses sector and the Western detractors.

Who we were told were supposed to be made to loose out through the price shock therapy, which frames well with the double role victim and perpetrator.

And like a perpetrator the government managed to flush all transactions from the formal market and the current cash shortages were predictable as a consequence of the operation. It is also interesting that the introduction of the new bearer cheques of denominations $1million, $5million and $10million are simply efforts to postpone the cash crisis to a later date even before the March elections instead of implementing strategies designed to re-formalize the economy.

As Gono and his principals oscillate between victims and perpetrators they have failed to provide the critical success elements required in redeeming us from this evil. It has thus added an urgent matter before us as citizens of this troubled nation to collectively unite ourselves as a catalyst of the Zimbabwe we want. We should introspect ourselves as to how long should the future be compromised by a leadership devoid of an upright moral value system?

Hillary Kundishora is a Scholar of Strategic management. He can be contacted on hkundishora@yahoo.co.uk or zimchaiyo.blogpot.com

If recent media reports carried by the Zimbabwe Independent of 11 January 2008 concerning the imminent launch of a ZANU PF breakaway party to contest the March elections under Simba Makoni are true, then Makoni is a super patriot who deserved to be saluted nothwithstanding the urgent and patriotic fact that only a broad based coalition of all democratic forces can unseat Mugabe and his rigging machinery in a free and fair election come March 08

That Makoni is alleged to be ready to stake his credibility and indeed his life against Mugabe and his notoriousily ruthless machinery deserves outmost respect.For an analysis of the antithesis that the ZANU PF extraordinary congress held in December 07 was, any ZANU PF opportunist would never dare to take such a risky yet drastic but welcome move in Zimbabwe today.

After Mugabe clearly rigged himself back to power by blocking the contestation of the party's presidency at the so called extraordinary ZANU PF congress which was a yawning non-event,all well meaning political analysts never expected that some ZANU PF members who have the country at heart can come forwad and fight to reclaim the Zimbabwean dream from the disastrous policies of the now politically and biologically spent force that Robert Mugabe has become.

Indeed political analysts had expected that after the so called extraordinary congress circus, all ruling party factions including well meaning reformists were going to take a back seat , close ranks and campaign for Mugabe whilist sharpening their spears for an unprecedented assalt on each other when Mugabe finally leave office by the will of God for its crystal clear that Mugabe will never leave office and hand over power to anyone when he is still alive since he has delusions that the title deeds to our beautiful country are in his pockets

It is in this context that if the media reports of Makoni working to save Zimbabwe at this defining moment in history are true, then he deserves to be inducted into the political hall of fame regardless of whether his project will succeed or fail.Throughout history, in defining moments of great nations, great people are not those who succeed in changing the situation but include those who stand up to be counted despite the enomity of a task facing them.

So Makoni has taken a risky decision and I believe that history will always reward those who take a principled stand based on conviction.For it is now a clear fact that Mugabe 's time is up and his continued presence at State house against the wishes of the people of Zimbabwe whom he has reduced to a laughing stock in the whole world just to molify his unquenchable appetite for power and its sake is a serious and painful problem to the people of Zimbabwe.Indeed Mugabe is the problem and the earlier the people of Zimbabwe take him head on and clearly send a powerful message that he does not own Zimbabwe but the people do, the better.

Unlike political sycophants such as Manyika, Kasukuwere, Muchinguri, Sibanda and the national joke Chinos, who to some extend can be forgiven given his clearly limited intellect, who are prepared to throw conscience away for the sake of political patronage, Makoni has put himself on the line.It would have been politically safe for any opportunist to wait in the wings and then pounce once Mugabe meets his God.Given his advanced age, naturally Mugabe is now an endangered specie that can do well in Old people 's homes whilist peacefully waiting to depart to the Almighty.If Makoni and his group are to truly enter the political frayfor the people against the tyranny of Mugabe, that would mark the apogee of statesmanship by Makoni and his group.

However media reports that Makoni and his group has spurned the agenda of a broad based coalition of all democtratic forces including the opposition MDC are true, that makes a sad reading given the fact that the current configuration of Zimbabbwean political landscape require unity of all democratic forces to donate a crushing defeat of Mugabe and his rigging machinery in March 08 elections.Thus the Makoni group must go a step further and reach out and embrace all othe opposition forces for a rainbow coalition that must be driven by the desire to save Zimbabwe from collapsing into Zimbabwe Ruins by defeating Mugabe and his shameless cohorts come March 08

Makoni musk quickily put his act together and with others in the democratic movement write the Polokwane template in Zimbabwean politics.History will forever be grateful to respected guys like Makoni for taking such a risky but yet necessary move for evil triumph when good man fold their hands and do nothing

THE relationship between the petty bourgeoisie and political elites in a post colonial state is a subject that requires critical interrogation because it informs the kind of democratic order and political morality that is necessary to push back the frontiers of poverty, itself largely a legacy of the colonial state.The end of apartheid in South Africa ushered a new era in which political power was transferred to the majority of the citizens through their elected representatives.Republicanism formed a foundational basis of the post apartheid state underpinned by a government of laws and not of men.

Fourteen years into the post apartheid construction, it is evident that no serious conversations have taken place in South Africa to deal with the issue of what sort of values and behaviour by the citizens is necessary for the republic to survive and flourish. If there is anything that President Thabo Mbeki and new ANC president Jacob Zuma agree on today, it is that the ANC should invest in political education as a matter of urgency.

It is not accidental, therefore, that the most powerful person in South Africa today, Zuma, finds himself on the wrong side of the law. Zuma is alleged to have been bribed by his friend and financial advisor, Shabil Shaik, who has already been convicted in exchange for discouraging the 2001 arms probe conducted by parliament and generally in facilitating Shaik’s deals with the government.

The choice of republicanism as an ideology for governing the post apartheid state with an emphasis on liberty, rule by the people and the civic virtue practiced by citizens was informed by a universal consensus that dictatorship, aristocracy and oligarchy would not help advance the cause of nation building.

By accepting a republican form of government, South Africans agreed to put a premium on civil virtue and opposition to corruption. Republicanism is generally perceived to be incompatible with office holders using public power for personal gain.There are many unresolved problems in South Africa, but the Zuma/Shaik, Selebi/Agliotti, Winnie Mandela/Tony Yengeni, and many other post apartheid corruption cases are far too many for us to pause to critically examine issues related to political morality and foundational principles of a post colonial state.

Is it the case that Africans have assimilated a political ideology founded on foreign morality with an in-built poison pill to eliminate popular African leaders against a background of inherited class relationships founded on a generally corrupt relationship between colonial political elites and business?

What should be the relationship between a post colonial state and emerging black business in Africa? Who should the state be accountable to? Who should benefit from state business? How are the state actors largely drawn from historically and economically disenfranchised majority to be economically stabilised if zero tolerance to corruption is a key foundational principle of a post colonial state?

The South African miracle that has been universally applauded was founded on forgiveness and acceptance by both villains and victims that it would not serve any purpose to seek to advance the national democratic revolution by looking backwards.Indeed, the criminality of apartheid and the consequential assignment of benefits exclusively on racial lines were accepted as given and Shaik’s apartheid equivalents were equally forgiven and are today generally perceived to have acquired their wealth legitimately.

If colonial history was to be interrogated critically, it would not be surprising to establish that the relationship between state and non-state business actors was generally corrupt. What is ironic is that the fiercest post colonial critics of corruption tend to be the very beneficiaries and successors of the colonial system.The menace of corruption to development is well acknowledged and it would be wrong to argue that corruption should be condoned as a necessary evil in any nation building experiment.

However, it is not surprising that the culprits of post colonial Africa tend to be black and no serious questions are then asked by citizens how they would expect their generally financially challenged representatives in the state to balance their books if it is accepted that the object of colonialism was to place the majority blacks in a financially precarious position.

It would not be considered cynical to argue that a blind acceptance of republicanism in a post colonial state has the effect of distorting political morality. Citizens expect a corruption-free administration and yet they acknowledge that their political and bureaucratic elites have no independent economic means to reduce the risk of parasitic behaviour of the order displayed in the alleged relationship between Zuma and Shaik on the one hand, and Selebi and Agliotti, on the other.It is generally agreed that corruption is endemic in all governments, and that it is not peculiar to any continent, region and ethnic group. It cuts across faiths, religious denominations and political systems and affects both young and old, man and woman alike.

Corruption is found in democratic and dictatorial politics; feudal, capitalist and socialist economies. Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist cultures are equally bedevilled by corruption.

And corrupt practices did not begin today; the history is as old as the world. Ancient civilisations have traces of widespread illegality and corruption.Zuma was first charged with corruption following Shaik's trial and the case was thrown out of Pietermaritzburg High Court last year over the state's delays in producing evidence.

Zuma was relieved of his duties following the conviction of Shaik although he was not given an opportunity to defend himself in the Shaik trial.

Unlike Selebi who has been given granted an extended leave of absence, Zuma was thrown into what was thought to be political wilderness to defend himself without the benefit of any pay.

What has emerged now is that when President Mbeki fired Zuma, the state did not even have sufficient evidence to prosecute the case. It was then necessary for the state to raid Zuma and his associates’ properties to obtain new evidence, in a manner that has been challenged as unconstitutional. The state is now using that new material to allege that during the period 1995 through 2005, Zuma received 4 million rand in corrupt payments from Shaik notwithstanding the fact that such evidence was not part of the evidence used to convict Shaik.

Shaik, who is serving a 15-year sentence for fraud and corruption, was found guilty of seeking a 500,000-rand-a-year bribe from French defence company Thales on behalf of Zuma, and not for the payments spanning over a ten-year period.

If Zuma is guilty of receiving payments from Shaik, a risk exists that all business persons who have made any payments to their friends in government will end up facing the same fate.

It has now been accepted that to correct the historical economic injustice created by apartheid, blacks should be given preferential access to government business and yet in doing so, the spectre of being accused of corruption rests on all emerging businessmen who because of history invariably look to the state as the primary source of business and capital accumulation.

Many of the emerging South African businessmen were colleagues during the anti-apartheid struggle with the political elites and the friendships forged are now being called to question and if the Zuma standard is applied, I am not sure how many of the politicians in South Africa would pass the test.

Any payment made to a post-apartheid political friend by a business person attracts with it the risk of being perceived as a generally corrupt transaction. It is incumbent upon the beneficiary of such payments to disclose to the state the true nature of the payment and the underlying relationship. However, it is not the case that in South Africa, all politicians can claim that over the last 14 years they have not received cash and non-cash payments from their friends in business.Mutumwa Mawere's weekly column is published on New Zimbabwe.com every Monday.

It is now certain that the 2008 elections will be held in March notwithstanding the protestations by ZANU-PF's negotiating partners in the SADC mediated talks facilitated by President Mbeki. The country will for the first time hold joint presidential, parliamentary and council elections after the negotiating partners through their parliamentary representatives unanimously agreed in Parliament to the Constitutional Amendment Act No. 18 which has paved way for the elections. The terms of the President, parliamentarians (whose term of office has been shortened as a consequence of the negotiations), and local authority representatives are accordingly due to expire in March presenting an obvious challenge to anyone advocating a transitional period post March. Clearly, the mandate of ZANU-PF and MDC to extend the election date has its own constitutional ramification that is not the subject of this article.The people of Zimbabwe will be presented with an opportunity to make a choice about who should govern them. The last eight years have been characterised by an atmosphere in which two forces have been engaged in an unprecedented political fight that has regretably assisted in worsening the economic situation and in providing an opportunity for economic management experimentation. The mere fact that Chinamasa/Goche and Biti/Ncube needed SADC intervention to arrive at the conclusion that the parliament of Zimbabwe, whose legitimacy in relation to ZANU-PF the MDC had consistently challenged, was a competent body to amend the constitution of Zimbabwe rather than the people as advocated by MDC's traditional partners demonstrates the complexity of the crisis.What the last 8 years have shown is that both MDC and ZANU-PF have no confidence in the Zimbabwean constitutional order. As a result, the executive has been provided with a unique opportunity to exploit the situation by systematically transferring the functions that are normally performed by cabinet to the RBZ thereby effectively rendering the parliamentary oversight function irrelevant. As a result, it is now Gono who has to invite himself to parliament rather than the Minister of Finance reporting to the nation through parliament about the state of the nation's finances and how it is that so-called cash barons have overtaken the political barons as the most wanted criminals.Only a dysfunctional society would produce a situation where both parliament and the executive branch of the state abdicate resulting in the erosion of the rule of law and destruction of the moral values generally expected in a normal functioning state. In such a situation, it is important for any discourse about change in the context of Zimbabwe to be located in an empirical framework otherwise it will be difficult if not impossible for citizens to make judgments about the culpability or otherwise of the key players in the Zimbabwean drama who have helped imprision the country is a state of siege while purporting to represent national interest.The role of the RBZ in undermining democracy has to form part of the debate about the future of the country in the past March elections. Can President Mugabe who has presided over the systematic collpase of the state be trusted to bring the change that Zimbabweans can believe in? Can the MDC under the current leadership be trusted to bring the changes that Zimbabweans can believe in? To the extent that MDC has found it fit to boycott parliament notwithstanding the fact that during the last 8 years, parliament has been used to rubber stamp some of the most draconian legislation that offend any democratic order, can the MDC be a trusted agent of change?The economic health of any nation provides a reliable barometer of the extent to which the nation is leaving upto the expections of its citizens. There is consensus among all that the economic situation in Zimbabwe has to change.ZANU-PF blames the MDC and its purported external principals for the economic decay and collapse while the MDC blames President Mugabe who has been in power for the last 28 years for the mess. Even President Mugabe would agree that all is not well and yet ZANU-PF believes that without him the economy will not get better. ZANU-PF has not accepted that leadership has anything to do with the crisis rather the supporters of President Mugabe believes that the economy is safe in the current hands.What is evident is that Gono has run out of solutions and the blame game is rapidly coming to its logical end. How long can Gono point fingers at other people without looking at himself in the mirror and taking responsibility? It appears that Gono still has some currency and he will be a factor in the forthcoming elections. Already he has almost successfully exploited the cash crisis and generated useful political dividends for ZANU-PF.He promised to identify cash barons and judging by the number of convictions that have already been reported it is evident that the RBZ is fighting back. The RBZ has already managed to ensure that Butau will not be a candidate in the next elections. Equally any prospective candidate for parliament will have to consider seriously about challenging the RBZ for the consequences can be personally disastrous.Hypocrisy plays an important part in any political life. However, no one would expect an institution like the RBZ to be at the center of hypocrisy at a defining moment in Zimbabwe's history. The manner in which exchange control violations have been handled by the RBZ under Gono's stewardship requires critical examination.Anyone who cares deeply about Zimbabwe can ill afford to ignore the role of the RBZ in distorting and undermining political and economic morality. I am convinced that people no longer know who to believe or what to believe. How can any nation seriously go for an election when citizens have been sufficiently abused by their own servants? The stakes are high for Zimbabweans to be nice to each other.I believe that there comes a time in every generation when each one of us is called to think seriously about legacy and what future generations will say about this moment and the choices made. Zimbabweans have gone through a lot and they deserve better.The Butau case is pregnant with lessons that should form part of the conversations about the future of Zimbabwe. The factual matrix keeps on unfolding but the latest information that Mr. Butau's Personal Assistant has been convicted provides yet another example of the manipulation of public opinion by the RBZ and, indeed, by the state.We were informed by the Herald that Ms. Getrude Matika pleaded guilty to illegally dealing in foreign currency and by default confirming that Butau is also guilty. If his PA is guilty then surely Butau cannot argue that he is innocent and this then confirms what Charamba has been saying that the West is guilty of undermining the sovereignty of Zimbabwe by giving sanctuary to criminals like Butau. This begs the question of what precisely did Ms. Matika plead guilty to. The facts presented by the Herald are as follows: Ms. Matika was employed by a company, Dande Holdings, allegedly owned by Butau. At all material times she worked for Dande and not for Butau. She has pleaded to transfering Z$87 billion from the company and not to Butau's account into various accounts before getting the equivalent in local currency using the parallel exchange rate. From the above, it is evident that Ms. Matika derived no benefit from the transaction. Equally, Butau did not derive any personal benefit from the alleged transfer of funds. In any normal country, the mere transfer of funds from one party to another would not constitute a criminal violation. Ms. Matika was imprisioned for her role in performing duties for her principal, Dande Holdings. If Dande was the party to the transfer of funds then surely the company would have been the accused and the imprisonment of officers of the company would be improper.Notwithstanding, Ms. Matika had to buy her temporary freedom by posting a bail of Z$50 million with stringent conditions.

The agreed facts are that between October 25 and December 19 last year, Ms. Matika was instructed to complete Real Time Gross Settlement forms transferring money from the account of Nyamasoka Farming, a company allegedly owned by Butau. It is alleged that Butau signed all the RTGS forms and the money was channelled into the black market for the purchase of buying foreign currency.

In October 2007, it is alleged that Ms. Matika in the course of performing her duties to her employer was further sent to Bulawayo to collect the foreign currency sourced from the illegal parallel market from one Bekezela Jabwa who gave her US$12,891, R81,580 and 1,100 pula being the foreign currency equivalent of the funds transferred from Nyamasoka's account. The foreign currency was delivered to Butau.It has now emerged that the funds transferred by Nyamasoka were part of the deal structured by the RBZ whereby the bank acting as an agent of the government in the procurement of imported tractors put together a scheme involving a shelf company, Flatwater Investments. It is commoncause that Flatwater received Z$2.1 trillion from the RBZ for the sole purpose of buying foreign exchange in the black market.A director of Flatwater, Mr. Taziwana Chivaviro and the Chief Operations Officer, Nigel Tatenda Marozhe, were also convicted on their pleas of guilty to dealing in foreign currency by Mr Guvamombe. They were remanded out of custody to today for mitigation and address of special circumstances before sentence is passed. It has been reported that Mr Guvamombe ordered the pair to pay $250 million bail each and surrender the title deeds of their respective properties.

At the core of the Butau matter that has regretably resulted in the arrest of third parties is the role of the RBZ in a transaction that is now alleged to have contravened the laws of the country. It is now known that In October last year, RBZ released Z$2.1 trillion to Flatwater for the purchase of 102 tractors for the Government's Agricultural Mechanisation Programme on terms and conditions that are still not known and for which Mr. Guvamombe appears not to have an interest in apart from expressing outrage while proceeding to convicting individuals who appear to have been agents of their employers.

The court heard that RBZ, a body corporate established under an Act of Parliament and Flatwater entered into a verbal agreement and not a written agreement before the cash was released. Can you imagine a bank that is supposed to be repository of national trust and confidence being party to a transaction in which public funds are transferred to a private company without any written document? Only in a banana republic would you expect this to happen and for the courts to turn a blind eye to such actions by a state organ. In any functioning state, the central bank deals with authorised financial institutions and not directly with the public.

Flatwater is alleged to have engaged a foreign currency dealer, Joseph Manjoro, to source the foreign currency. According to the court records, Manjoro received the funds and allegedly converted Z$708 billion to own use and concluded a transaction with Butau's company for Z$562.5 billion.

Mr. Anthony Hobwana was also engaged by Flatwater to source foreign currency in line with the mandate from the RBZ and received Z$575 billion. Another company, Squareaxe (Private) Limited, owned by Royas Mazorodze, also received Z$575 billion from the RBZ deal.

It has now been alleged that parties that were contracted by Manjoro on behalf of his principal, Flatwater, did not raise the equivalent in foreign currency as expected by the RBZ. Ordinarily in such a situation, Manjoro would have recourse to the courts against its counter parties. It is evident that the RBZ would have no interest in the dealings between Manjoro and his contracting parties and, therefore, no criminal violation would have been committed against the state. The complainant would be Manjoro himself who now finds himself also accused in the same matter.

The RBZ's contracting party appears to have been Flatwater and yet it is not evident in the proceedings in Zimbabwe that this was the legal position. It is not clear why the state would be interested in the affairs of Flatwater and its agents or contracting parties. It is also clear that there were no agreements between the parties leading the RBZ to take the law into its own hands. The idea of self help is inimical to the rule of law and it is clear that the RBZ is judge in its own cause.The only instance in which all the convicted parties would stand accused for what is clearly a corrupt and non transparent deal is when the rule of law is no longer applicable. Zimbabweans have been told that even Manjoro converted some of the funds received from Flatwater to his own use. The RBZ expected Flatwater and not Manjoro to raise US$1.25 million at an exchange rate of Z$1,696,520 per US$1. Manjoro only managed to raise US$357 000 from the black market.

The funds were deposited into the bank account of Michigan Tractors in South Africa resulting in the procurement of only 39 tractors out of the expected 102 which naturally must have enraged Gono.

It has been establisged that Mr. Phillimon Makuvise, whose surname is the same as the CEO of CBZ, Gono's former employer, acted as a middleman between Flatwater and Manjoro leading him to be convicted as well. He is also on a $100 million bail.

What emerges from the above is a classic case of abuse of state power. It does not take a rocket scientist to see that Gono unleashed the state machinery to resolve what appears to be a deal gone sour. If the individuals implicated had known that the real principal in this corrupt deal was the RBZ, I am sure they would have taken a different view to their involvement. But who would imagine that an organ of state would be involved in an illegal transaction fully knowing the consequences of such actions. What is shocking is that the state appears to be impotent in dealing with the RBZ leading to questions being legitimately asked about whom is the state really serving. Would it be fair to conclude that the RBZ is now the mother of all hypocrisy or a den of gangsters who have the state machinery at their disposal to resolve disputes in violation of Section 18(9) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe that states s follows: "Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, every person is entitled to be afforded a fair hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial court or other adjudicating authority established by law in the determination of the existence or extent of his civil rights or obligations. [Subsection as amended by section 3 of Act 4 of 1993 - Amendment No. 12]. "

I corrected only spellings and gramma but otherwise its exactly as it landed in my In-Box.

Rev Mufaro Stig Hove.

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I find ads posted sad for people like you to try and make money out of other people's misery.

What have you done for the victims of the killings considering that you are making a killing from the ads posted on your site. You might think that you are promoting some tribal unity or something but let me tell you the truth straight , WE THE NDEBELES DO NOT WANT TO BE PART OF ZIMBABWE ANYMORE BELIEVE IT OR NOT.

We are sick and tired of the treachery perpetuated by the Shonas day in day out we are sick of having our salaries eroded every hour you may say the Shonas are suffering too but let me tell you that our suffering dates way back to the 80s.

Take Zodwa for example, her father left home when her mom was still pregnant to join the war came back at independence and in 1982 was collected at night by the fifth brigade and was never to be seen again the result is that without a father Zodwa's mom had to struggle to raise her, pay her fees and Zodwa went to school barefoot, was not doing well as there was not enough food at home; they were living like destitute in a country whose independence Zodwa's dad had sacrificed his life.

Because Zodwa has no father she cannot get a Birth Certficate and ID and in turn no Passport to escape the poverty and live in the UK like you so she can send money back home for her parents. She turns to the local eligible man, gets married and thats the end of the story of her youth. Now she has to fend for her kids who in turn (because she has no Birth Certificate) find it hard for them to get them themselves and they drop out of school at Grade 7 because they can not write Grade Seven exams with no Birth Cerficates, and yes the cycle continues vicious as it is and the next thing the boys who lost a grandparent border-jump into SA.

IF LUCKY THEY MAKE IT; if not they are either eaten by crocodiles or are caught and sent to Lindela.

On the flip side here's a boy in Mash East who grows up with with his mom as his dad has left to join the war dad comes back, gets his demob pay; is senseless, blows it all but is able to get his son a Birth Certificate and son gets an education up to Form Four. Son does not do well at school but as the crunch time comes in, son gets a passport, dad sells some of his cattle son goes to the UK starts a new life, sends dad some money and amongst other things dad buys his cattle back. Its not a blessing to have a father. Or should i say not having a dad is curse?

The sun is setting: the old guard is going; no one is man enough to stand up and challenge the old guard but need i reminder you and your likes in the words of Malcom X

"When you let your chickens out in the morning do not expect them to roost in your neighbour's run: they will come to yours."

Here I was just highlighting to you how deep our problems with the Shonas are; so whatever you are promoting as long as it does not benefit the victims directly you are just as badas Mugabe and Chiyangwa: you are enriching yourself with the suffering of others; you hands are blood-stained.

I have attached a link below just to give you an insight as to who the dissidents were, if a notebook signed by Notalks Mabhena is found in the pocket of a terrorist called Mombi Macheni, the rest is food for thought.www.rhodesia.nl/mission.htmHave a good day!

Just a matter to reply this letter. I thought of it for a while, the sensitivities surrounding this issue but I have a problem with this posting because it paints everyone with the same brush hence this cannot go unchallenged. I am Ndebele by all instances, my great grandmother comes from KwaNdebele in South Africa and grew up in the Mema clan before she was married to my great grandfather known as Ndebele and later nicknamed Mantshontsho by the people in Mazvihwa near Zvishavane where he settled and got a farm as pension.I have for a long time had a problem with this tribalistic shit and tribalists themselves. Just because to justify their actions, they usually dwell on trivial things to demonise another tribe. It erodes the impact of the atrocities committed during Gukurahundi.

We all know that mothers are allowed to take birthcertificates for their children – the law has been in force for a very long time. I remember that if the father was said to be absent for whatever reason, the mother had to use relatives, uncles or the nearest brother to take the documents for the children. That is exactly what happened to me when my father could not own up to impregnating my mother. What happened to Zodwa’s father is unforgivable but to use this to qualify your hate for each and every Shona child who got a birthcertificate is just not on. And there are many Ndebele children who have grown up to be great leaders and businesspeople, both at home and in the Diaspora.

And why does your writer think that the UK is the Mecca for all Zimbabweans – many of them who have ended up in UK have swallowed their degreed pride to work in mental and old age homes – four shifts a day to be able to make a few measly pounds.

South Africa has actually provided a bigger opportunity for Zimbos, especially us Ndebele’s who can speak the language but its up to your scope of mind – whether your mind can only think as far as working in a restaurant or going for the bigger dream which is highly possible in South Africa than in any other country in the world. At a flat I live in Windsor east, many of my neighbours are both Shona and Ndebele, meaning we all jump the border like anyone else, facing the same problems etc.

I am quite aware of the lack of development of Matebeleland by the govt but then it has nothing to do with a Shona child or the generations to come after that. It has to do with the Zimbabwe govt headed by a Zimbabwean – not a Shona, called Robert Mugabe whose govt constitutes of both Shonas and Ndebeles after the merging of PF Zapu and Zanu PF on 22 December 1987.

I hope when time comes for those who committed the Gukurahundi atrocities to account, you will not tell the International Criminal Court that you are looking for all Shonas but just some govt criminals. The fact that Gukurahundi has remained in the news is because of the media and for that media to survive and continue carrying that message and history, they need funds and that funding comes through advertising. That’s how letters like yours are able to be forwarded and be read by the whole world – so there is no apology in actually carrying the Gukurahundi message and at the same time get advertising. Even for you to go on the internet, you need money to surf the web.

It’s like xenophobia here in South Africa, when they fail to do certain tasks in life, they point their fingers at foreigners. Zimbabwe has a bigger picture than some tribalistic inuendoes.

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From wafawarova@yahoo.co.uk

Hie

I agree that what we are seeing here is a sad history whose factuality is mingled in propaganda, bitterness, slander and malice on one side - yet on the other it is rooted in the reality of gross ruin and slaughter whose effect is more cruel on the offsprings of the slaughtered than it ever was on those on whom the pain was inflicted.

I would have been happier if the Unity Accord had addressed this mishappening the way it did the political question. I would be happier if the cahllenges facing Zimbabwe today were not in any way percieved as related to this black patch of our history.

I would be happier if those whose bitterness was created by this sad chapter had somewhere else to empty this betterness than on a path of recurrance and I sometimes feel like shouting at history and say "Please history, don't you dare recur."

In all this bitterness; In all this denial; In all this jingoistic mudslinging; In all this friction and in all this irrationality of the majority and the bitterness of the minority I say - Where is our hope? Where is our faith as a nation? Where is our vision and where is our love?

The blood that we lost to a bad history was not let out by a people from the pits of fires. It was let out by people, some of whom in their youth could not even kill a fly let alone a rat. It is blood let out by people who allowed themselves to be ruled by anger, slander and malice. People whose bitterness and anger created walls of division higher than the Berlin Wall.

In all this we still want a future. A future coming out of our current suffering and bitterness. A future out of a spirit that says freedom comes with running away.

I refuse to be divisive. I refuse to give anesthaesia to the repressed of this world so that they continue to be victims of supremacy driven rape. Yet I refuse to romanticise the triumph of bitterness. I totally refuse to live in a generation where hate is allowed to be a vehicle of perception and believe. I refuse to be ignorant. I refuse to subscribe to the tyranny of the majority.

The African cause is our cause. It is a cause rooted in the suffering bestowed upon our heritage by the barabaric accopmplishements of slavery, colonialism and imperialism. We hail from a history of ruin and slaughter so impiously, tyrannically and barbarically executed upon our ancestry that ours has to be a journey to freedom. It pains when the walk to that freedom entails the mistrust, hate and fascism as evidently seen in this generation.

Those whose lives were taken by the ignonimity of our intolerance and hate should play a role in our future if only we can allow them to do so. To some their death and suffering needs to be avenged, to some they should just be forgotten in the stride of history and yet to others their death and suffering should be atoned by a wave of unity and peace.

My heart continues to cry but there are tears that always make a mockery of the bitterness enshrined in our history. THESE are the tears of those who yesteryear believed we were created to serve them. Those who were sworn o the philosophy that said the black person is just good for labour, beer, dance and primitive sex. Now they gllefully appear at the funeral created by our own shortcomings shedding crocodile tears, just hoping that we keep up the trend of self destruction all for the benefit of their insatiable greed.

Zimbabwe. We are one. Together we will overcome. I refuse to be ignorant.

Reason Wafawarova

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From mangwe@ecoweb.co.zw

Dear All,

I have been quiet for sometime but like Peter I felt compelled to respond to the misguided brother who believes in the colonial myth of “tribes” called Ndebele and Shona. These are languages spoken by people of many tribes in the country and as far as I know our politics in Zimbabwe , like many countries, is not based on tribes but, again as in many countries, on class and regional interests. This is only natural as people of a given class or region would be expected to share certain developmental or other needs. That is why all vibrant democracies recognize the need to have an appropriate balance of power between central and local government. Selfish central government politicians are the ones who often mess countries up by centralizing power and rendering local governments powerless.

For the education of those brainwashed let me state that Ndebele or Shona (which in turn has at least three major sub-groups based on regional location in the Northern (Zezuru), Central and Southern (Karanga) and Eastern (Manyika)) areas of Zimbabwe are equivalent to England , Scotland , Wales or Ireland in the British Isles . We do not talk of an English or Scottish or Welsh or Irish tribe and yet centuries of experience have taught the British people to respect the regional interests by creating an appropriately empowered local government system that works harmoniously with the central government. The same is the case in USA and other federated countries where the state governments work well with the Federal government. I hope statesmen in our countries in Africa will one day copy these successful models of government to avoid the perennial but flawed accusation of tribalism in African politics.

A tribe is a group of people or clan descended from one individual. For example the people descended from Jacob or Israel can legitimately be called a tribe. Such people do not necessarily live in the same locality and hence it would be unusual for them to vote according to tribe. I belong to the Moyo tribe, and I can assure you that members of my tribe (even my family) do not share the same political beliefs or even language simply because we are Moyos. I can say the same about the other tribes. It would therefore be ridiculous for anyone to claim to identify a tribal group simply from language, accent or place of origin. It is even more ridiculous for anyone to then place blame to people of a given language, accent or region for faults attributable to someone who happens to be in power and shares the same language, accent or region.

Our brother is correctly distressed by the injustice and misery in our country but he should define the problem correctly if we are to have lasting solutions.

To analyse your claim of beign a Ndebele first and foremost i would like to remind you that the present day Ndebeles in Zimbabwe were initially Zulus known as amaKhumalo and were Under Tshaka as their king they were only a chieftainship under Matshobana.As Mzilikazi left the present day South Africa he and his people were given the name MATEBELE by the tswanas in refference to their long shields, hence poor Peter, the present day Ndebeles in South Africa are not the same as the Ndebeles in Zimbabwe, even the languages are completley different. That on its own Peter does not qualify your grandmother as a Zimbabwean Ndebele. Secondly if your grandfather is Ndebele by surname allow me Peter to say that if he is your martenal grandfather, naturally Peter your attempt to qualify yourself as a Ndebele still lacks a great deal, if he is your partenal grandparent then how the hell did you end up with a Moyo surname. All i am saying Peter is thatyour claim to be a Ndebele is rather dubious given the information you have put forawrd not that i needed it anywhere. But Peter as we all know Moyo can either be Ndebele or Shona if Ndebele traditionally they (the Moyos ) are known as amaHOLE so no wonder you are attempting to defend the shonas and their spine chilling acts.

Back to the core business, there is always a tendency by the Shona who, trying to run away from their gult, paint anyone that points a finger at the perpetrators of Gukurahundi as shonas a tribalist. The fact remains that this was a tribal cleansing carried out by the 5th brigade that was shona speaking and loyal to Zanu PERIOD. SHOULD WE SAY THAT THESE WERE TONGAS OR SUTHUS no they we shonas. To say that i am painting everybody with the same brush is beside the point as nobody is in a position to stand up today and say i did the killings , i was in the brigade. So should we then throw awy the only strand of evidence that we have that is "the pepertrators were shona speaking" to do so will be spitting on the graves of the slain whether the graves are known or unknown. The scenario i gave you is real and living in Matabeleland people are still failing to get birthcertificates like it or not.

Moyo lets face the facts you can not compare the suffering of somebody who lost a parent in some cases both parents in the 8os to somebody that started to feel the crunch in the late 90s. The passing of a human life on this earth is unlike a goat or cow Moyo thats why we weep when we lose our beloved ones we need that time to go through all the stages of the grieving process and finally accept the loneliness and emptiness left behind by them. The gvt has refused to openly apologise and address this issue, all some of us need is for these lives to be recognised their names to be remembered and their famillies given the support they deserve, yes they are those that have managed to rise above that and make it but they are some who were severely affected, like my aunt's friend who was forced to chop her husbands head off and she went mentally ill from that point on wards, this is true if you like i can take you to her or people that know her. Is it not fair therefore for people like these to benefit from the moneis that others are making in the name of their cause.

Today in rural Matebeleland people still feel terrified when they see an army truck, i was going to Bulawayo from Nkayi when we came across an army truck everybody in the car just kept quiet and we asked each other later on "kanti bayangaphi" is that a normal scenario for people to fear their own national army an army thats meant to serve and protect them. I still stand by my sentiments that people who make money and enrich themselves in the name of the killings are just as bad. I know it costs money to go on the net but how much, all i am saying is we are sick of words on the net we want action and the action is coming soon, the chickens will be coming home to roost soon.

The Uk Moyo is the Mecca for those Zimbabweans that are there thats why they are fighting deportations day in day out, they would have gone back to Zimbabwe if it was not their Mecca, just in as much as South Africa is your Mecca, and i still find it sad for you to think that those who work in restuarants work there because they cannot think beyond that i find it insulting especially to people that have been deported more that 5 times ad still found their way back to make a living because they did not have an education as they fell into Zodwa's, shoes your insensitivity to other people's plight is sickening.

I do not hate the shonas for getting birthcertficates i hate them for tribal depopulation, and for not bringing the killers to justice . If Moyo you feel i am painting everybody with the same brush tell me who to paint, that will be the starting point for the delivery of justice to the slain. If you are saying Mugabe is not a Shona then what is he, enlighten me i thought he was a shona from zwimba.

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From Peter Moyo ( Peter.moyo@etv.co.za)

On my surname, maybe you did not read the part on how I got a birth certificate. Read it again. I was born into a PF Zapu family. Infact, there is no need for me to qualify myself as any other tribe because I am Zimbabwean first and foremost. I went to school at Wanezi High in Filabusi and I can see what you say about who is a true Ndebele because we used to have the Khumaloes at school who thought they were the superior ones and better Ndebeles than others. That is a problem on its own and I see you agitate for this point in your reply which is quite unfortunate – otherwise we would say then the whole of Matabeleland is populated by the Khumaloes. You will then realize that if you dismiss some groups as having not been Ndebele because of their surname or whatsoever, then maybe it was not the Ndebeles alone on whom genocide visited upon. It is a whole lot of many tribes as by your assertion as to who is Ndebele and who is not. I remember Jonathan Moyo clearly saying he lost a father during Gukurahundi – we also lost relatives, some uncles who just vanished during those years – how do we explain this situation – how do we fit our loss in the Gukurahundi context?

That is the problem I have had with people who think they can define others, in the process painting a whole tribe as having participated in the genocide. There are a few criminals who happen to be politician who with Colonel Dyke trained the 5th brigade to vanquish others. We all know who they are, they are a bunch of Zimbabweans that need to be punished. Unfortunately these are the same people who happen to be in power, very much aided by some Ndebele leaders who on 22 December 1987 should have helped our cause by making sure the punishment of perpetrators is put on the table during the political negotiations.

When you take a brush and just paint your misguided masterpiece, this is where you find yourself lashing out at anyone you perceive to be Shona and has a website that writes about social injustices in Zimbabwe . What have you yourself done to make sure there was some awareness about Gukurahundi? Have you talked to the all powerful Dumiso Dabengwa lately or John Nkomo – the current national chairman of the very same party where the real criminals are hiding? Those are the questions that you should be asking yourself. As for me, I will be helping to shoot a documentary about Dr. Joshua Nkomo’s life with one of his grandchildren from the US and I will be speaking to all these politicians plus victims of the Gukurahundi.

Also, on another point, how do you define a Ndebele in this day and age of inter-marriages? I am asking because Dr. Nkomo’s niece shares the surname Moyo. I am also asking because the surname Ndlovu is a direct translation of the Shona surname Nzou or Ndou in Venda . That’s why I would prefer to be called a Zimbabwean than be defined by any other tribe. The moment you start defining yourself, you are likely to die a very bitter man, with nothing to really show in achievement.

As for Gukurahundi, we will not forget it and the people who did it which we all know will be tried in our life time. We will make sure, with our websites, we lobby for that when our political and social space finally becomes free from the current vestiges of our liberation struggle.

And remember brother, I am not Shona nor Ndebele nor any other tribe you might want to classify my surname, I am a Zimbabwean

“To say that i am painting everybody with the same brush is beside the point as nobody is in a position to stand up today and say i did the killings , i was in the brigade. So should we then throw awy the only strand of evidence that we have that is "the pepertrators were shona speaking" to do so will be spitting on the graves of the slain whether the graves are known or unknown”

If we were one day to make an audit of the army, we will find out who did it and we will do so in good time. One of the easiest way to do it, especially in South Africa , has been to go for the top brass, which will happen in good time. So, please don’t use your ignorance to persecute each and every Zimbabwean that you see just because the people who did this despicable act spoke the language they are speaking. It’s a myopic way of trying to deal with real issues

As for the birthcertificates in Matabeleland , I know the difficulties faced there and I acknowledge them, but then I think it is time to ask the MDC MPs who have been running those areas for the past 7 years what they have done to solve this problem. Have they done anything? I believe when the people of Matabeleland for the first time chucked Zanu PF out of the province in 2000, they had things this party had failed to solve and wanted MDC to help them with these – did they then follow up or did MDC follow up in these provinces and villages to really find out what the problems they are facing are? I am still to hear what the MDC really did in the province since winning the elections and if they ever made noise about these issues or try to help families find their relatives lost to Gukurahundi. The catholic organization has talked about mass graves in the province, what has the political leadership chosen in the province done? I have never heard this issue in parliament yet almost the whole province politically belongs to one party. Should we then blame all the other Zimbabweans who got birth certificates for this or we should try to find out why this hasn’t been done and why the political leadership is very silent on this issue.

To me Mugabe is not Shona, he is a Zimbabwean who did a despicable did. This classification of people is the one that makes you paint everyone else with a brush. And as I have said, I have seen it in South Africa where if one foreigner robs a South African, all the radio stations and newspapers start saying foreigners are to blame for crime in the country. But the facts are that only 3% of South African crime is done by foreigners.

So when you see chickens are coming home to roost, are you gonna go charging with a machete or machine gun at any Shona you see since you seem to classify and blame Gukurahundi on Shonas? Maybe you should read about how the Rwandan genocide started. There was the slogan, ‘kill the coachroach’ and ‘a child of a coachroach is also a coachroach’. By the time the Hutus were done, 800 000 mostly Tutsis were dead. The simple thing could have just been to identify the criminals and try them and the country would have gone ahead in peace.

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From remember.moyo@yahoo.com

With all due respect to the views expressed by comrade Reason Wafawarova, Sir, I wish to observe that his contributions are nothing more than vailed attempts at appeasing his Zanu sick mind.

There is nothing of substance that one can lay a hand on considering that Reason should be well informed about the history of Zimbabwe from the enlightened perspective of a "former" Zanu pf activist!!

Take heed cde, the high sounding articles are a lot of storm in a tea cup!

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@From wafawarova@yahoo.co.uk

I remember Remember Moyo from news items as many may do. I seem to realise that the response in question is more directed at my regular opinion pieces in the three publications I write for and not necessarily to the issue being discussed here.

I also note that there has been no effort to pick any particular aspect from any article but just to accuse the writer of a fictitious past and attempt the usual negative labling theory, something we article-writers use frequently to gauge the strength of a piece. Normally if readers can respond with emotion (negative) and they cant say what exactly they are upset about it just means the intended message got home, especially if they attempt to discredit the author by associating him with something they perceive to be defamatory.

This writer does not believe in warnings from writers or anyone else because he is a believer in knowledge and facts and not a political activist, Oh please that is a task for people who believe in being followers of individuals. I am an ideology follower and no one can make me a political activist because it is an exercise outside a framework of analyses and sometimes rationality.

I kindly ask Remember to try to remember what exactly got him unhappy in whichever piece(s) that he may have come across and I will be more than happy to calm the storm he is talking about, whether in the MDC teacup as he says or anywhere else.

Otherwise what I wrote about the issues at hand here is exactly what I feel. We cannot afford to agree to ring the worst out of a bad history. That is counterproductive and what we need to do is to find the best possible way to heal the wonds inflicted by that bad history without necessarily inflicting any more wounds.

Again I refuse to be ignorant. Zimbabwe, together we can overcome. We are one.

It is homeland or death for Zimbabwe and the revolution will prosper.

Regards

REASON

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From remember.moyo@yahoo.com

Preposterous response from the "new" comrade! I was merely noting in a literal sense the lack of a clear cut line of thought in his piece of work. My observation had nothing to do with a personal vendetta whatsoever, nor was it meant to undermine the person of Mr Reason Wafawarova in any way subtle or otherwise. I find his personal insecurity rather disturbing and heavily smelling of a political hangover that refuses to acknowledge that in a democratic space people are free to air their personal views on any matter without reducing that objective discourse to a personal level!

I mean, is my Cde that important that I can single out his person for ridicule for the first time ever in my life?!

To point out one flaw I kindly meant for him to address in his future writings; his syntax was very highly strung but the gist of the matter was neither here nor there. I hope it will come out one day what "ignorance" my comrade is "refusing", with a passion of religion!

I really wonder how much is actually spent in describing the Zimbabwean situation (whether you call it a crisis, a tragedy or whatever.) I’m talking about the time, the resources and whatever is spent in debating and describing it.

I similarly wonder how much is spent in “fighting Mugabe and ZANU-PF.” One may say there are no mercenary forces, guerrilla fighters etc fighting the Mugabe Regime. Think-tanks have recommended that Mugabe and ZANU-PF will be fought in many other ways other than through military means.

There are no sanctions as such against Zimbabwe. Having said that, one is acutely aware that mention of the following names causes many would be investors to develop a serious cold. Mention “Mugabe”, “ZANU-PF”, “Zimbabwe” and the temperature of any group of people anywhere in the world suddenly boils up.

There are extreme views in any group of people. Some consider Mugabe and ZANU-PF as heroes of the stature of the Rev Martin Luther King, Jnr etc who fought for the rights of their peoples. I have received lots of e-mails from various groups in the African and Arab world who wonder why a simple black man like myself would not embrace Mugabe and ZANU-PF.

I’ve been taken to task by numerous ANC Officials here in South Africa who wonder why a simple black person like myself would actually set up a blog to write against Mugabe and ZANU-PF. Do I have white persons paying me to demonise Mugabe and ZANU-PF?

It is in that light that politicians like Cde Thabo Mbeki and even Cde Jacob Zuma decide to take the extremist view of supporting Mugabe and ZANU-PF under cover of a policy their dubiously call “Quiet Diplomacy.” I received an e-mail from a group in the Arab World which said they were busy collecting various implements to assist with the new farmers in Zimbabwe as if it would somehow shake me into some strange mood.

In the same breath, we have fervent anti-Mugabe activists who will label as CIO anyone who would find some positive thing in Mugabe and ZANU-PF. Fortunately I’ve been through all that myself before.

In “The Zimbabwe Intelligence Forces and the Zimbabwe Crisis Part Two”(http://chinja.blogspot.com/2007/11/zimbabwe-intelligence-forces-and.html ), I fully described how I sincerely tried to get to the bottom of what was really wrong in Zimbabwe. I participated in broadcasting on 3FM supporting what at face value appeared like the black man’s fight for economic emancipation (by way of acquisition of land, among other resources.)

My purpose of writing this particular submission is to enumerate clearly the issues that those Zimbabweans who are against Mugabe and ZANU-PF have against that Mugabe and ZANU-PF. Note well that there may be nothing particularly new I may enumerate. The difference is that some of us have decided to join the struggle against Mugabe and ZANU-PF because we are closely linked to the same Mugabe and ZANU-PF and hence wield the capacity to cause them greater damage.

Please ask yourselves why my numerous writings are not being challenged by the likes of Ceaser Zvayi, Reason Wafawarova, etc.

To certain extremists in the “Opposition Forces” it shows that I’m one of them.

Is my writing of “Is Robert Mugabe the Master-assassin?” acceptable to die-hard ZANU activists?

Is my writing of “The full submission on the rigging of the Zimbabwean Elections” also acceptable to these ZANU-PF Propagandists?

So when I collect all material that seriously “demonises” Mugabe and ZANU-PF, its still perfectly in order? Mugabe and ZANU-PF do not mind that, some of you think.

No…..you are completely mistaken (those that suspect me of being a CIO Operative.) You have a right to suspect anybody but never allow your anger to cloud your judgements such that you end up stabbing the very surgeon who is supposed to operate on your ailing body.

SO WHAT’S THE REAL TRAGEDY OF ZIMBABWE?

It may appear a simplistic answer but the real tragedy of Zimbabwe is a single individual called Robert Gabriel Mugabe. You may say, “Mr Hove you want to shift the blame that must be spread to many (yourself included) and you want to lay it at an old man’s door.” Well lets go on with my line of argument.

1……….ZANU-PF has always been led by Robert Mugabe as far back as the 60s. Robert Mugabe is solely accountable for anything whether good or bad which was executed by that ZANU-PF.The complication of judging Robert Mugabe is the “fine line” under which he operated during the guerrilla war of the 70s. Many Opposition activists forget that Robert Mugabe is in reality a guerrilla fighter now wearing a black suit and residing at the National Guest House.

Here is the “fine line”: Mugabe and ZANU-PF had to remove Ian Smith and the Rhodesia Front. The ZANLA fighters had to kill anyone who was suspected of collaborating with the Rhodesian Government. Numerous innocent people died after their enemies misled the guerrilla fighters into believing that they were Smith’s informers. Personal scores were scored by individuals and they misinformed the guerrilla fighters who then give orders for the beating to death of numerous innocent villagers.

Where am I leading to here? The same deception has been used by the very leaders of the political party, ZANU-PF. Assassinations have always been part of the history of mankind but what’s terribly sad is the reason why certain individuals are eliminated.

Although Mugabe and ZANU-PF don’t want to admit it, Cde Tongogara was assassinated and there are reasons why he had to be eliminated. There is no person who is assassinated without reason and without that person having received some warning of some sort. This is the same the world over. If you go through the film “The Bush link to the Kennedy Assassination” (and that video is available at http://www.zimgossiper.blogspot.com/ ) , President JF Kennedy really stretched the patience of his very lieutenants. Check out the video and see what I’m talking about.

Now Cde Mugabe wields enomous power within ZANU-PF. As I mentioned in “Is the Nation of Zimbabwe ready for the earthily departure of its ‘father’?” (http://zimfinalpush8.blogspot.com/2007/12/is-nation-of-zimbabwe-ready-for-earthly.html ), and other submissions, ZANU-PF is exactly like the Mafia. The most senior member leads the group and only death removes him/her. The main reason is because there is too many skeletons in the cupboards at State House and elsewhere and Mugabe would never be safe anywhere in the world if he stupidly agreed to step down.

Mugabe’s problem would be if the others would “sing” and he would not be in power to silence them or at least intimidate them into silence. Nobody should ever pretend that they don’t know why Mugabe cannot retire.

Now Mugabe has presided over a completely evil Regime. I’m meeting people who quietly fled Zimbabwe and did not shout to the world about the evils of ZANU-PF. Some are feeding me with vital information which I periodically use in my submissions without mentioning my sources.

But for an incomplete list of persons who were allegedly assassinated during the Mugabe reign, please visit http://www.finalpushzim.blogspot.com/ and check for “Is Robert Mugabe the Master-Assassin?”. Check there as well for “Dr Joshua Nkomo’s letter to then Prime Minister Mugabe” which he wrote from Britain in 1983. Read the whole 117 points and judge for yourself. Was Dr Nkomo persecuted by Mugabe or not?

The “fine line” is in the fact that Mugabe would demonise an individual and the gullible thugs would tear that person apart. Some like Dumiso Dabengwa are still alive today and if they wanted to tell their stories, they would tell very depressing stories indeed.

They, however, keep quiet partly because they claim they want to keep the 1987 “Unity Accord” alive and partly because they would have to leave the country if they started “singing” too much.

Those like Mr Simon Khaya-Moyo are earning in precious forex so they are just feeding their children and have no intention of “rocking the gravy ship.” When the time comes I will say what discussion I had with the same Simon Khaya-Moyo. When all this is over, they will say we were not happy with what was happening but we were afraid to speak out.

Those stinking hypocrites.!

2…….. Cde Robert Mugabe has seriously abused a whole Nation and a number of generations. Many living revolutionaries who strategized and fought with him during the 60s and the 70s find it difficult to abandon him now. There is a huge group of revolutionaries eg Richard Chemist Hove, July Moyo etc who lament that no matter how tough or wrong it is, they will die in ZANU-PF.

But they will never be led into a debate about the evils of Robert Mugabe. The main reason is because they went along with that evil for so long that they feel it would be dangerous to (as they think) “disintergrate now”.

Their question is : “Ko tingaenda kuno umwe musangano upi isu takura kudai?” (“Which other Organisation can we go to now when we are this old?”) The truth is: They are too afraid to face the painful truths which the Nation both wants and needs to know about.

The abuse of the Nation by Robert Mugabe stems from the fact that as Executive President, he personally has security and can cause commotions which do not personally affect him.

What was wrong with Margaret Dongo forming another Political Party? Was her house not stoned in Harare and her supporters assaulted and murdered?

What was wrong with Edgar Tekere forming another Political Party? Were his supporters not assaulted and murdered with Patrick Kombayi escaping certain death by receiving expensive specialist treatment in Britain?

They thought they would “crush” the MDC as was their custom for the past 30 years but apparently the bone is too big for them to swallow. Tsvangirai and the MDC are being advised by too many intelligent, disgruntled persons and everyone knows that its either now or never. In Mugabe’s very offices are angry persons who cry to Tsvangirai to never give up.

Then comes the Western world which was getting unhappy with Mugabe for various reasons. The last straw was the violent Land Grab. But never think the Land Grab was the only reason. There is the issue of single-handedly going into the DRC to prop up a Dictator who was supposed to negotiate internally with his political compatriots.

There was general rampant corruption which was increasing unchecked throughout Mugabe’s reign of repression. Mugabe was generally viewed as Mr Clean but his “tolerance” of corruption perpetrated by his own wife Grace Marufu/Goreraza/Mugabe, Leo Mugabe, Phillip Chiyangwa and numerous others made many brave writers to ask questions.

So the abuse of the Nation of Zimbabwe by Mugabe is in the fact that the very head of Party, Government and State was appearing to be a Mr Clean yet he was the most corrupt and the most evil (assassinations etc.)

So Robert Mugabe is the real tragedy in the sense that no sensible dialogue can ever be undertaken while he is still alive. Cde Emmerson Munangagwa once sent Colonel Dyke to meet with the MDC Leader in the very early years of the formation of the MDC but Mugabe breathed fire and brimstone.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE TRAGEDY IS NOT THE LAND GRAB, OR OUR FORMER COLONISERS, OR THE WHITE WEST.

THE TRAGEDY IS NOT A “SANCTIONS REGIME” AGAINST A REVOLUTIONARY BLACK GOVERNMENT.

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, THE TRAGEDY FACING ZIMBABWE IS NONE OTHER THAN CDE ROBERT GABRIEL MUGABE (CORRECTLY KNOWN AS MATIBILI.)